New Year, New Happenings

Hi to all of you!  I've once again been gone for awhile.  Sorry!  Here's my long post to catch up....

Grace shaving Tim with a spoon

Keegan shaving Jerod with a spoon

Our Christmas and New Year's holidays were amazing.  I remember last year at this time I had been dealing with anxiety issues due to changes in my hormones (which is another whole blog post altogether).  So when this year rolled around I was really ready to enjoy the time with my family.  We had so much fun together over the break-looking at lights, spending a day in our jammies watching Christmas movies and drinking cocoa, buying and wrapping gifts for each other-you get the picture.  It was sincerely one of the best Christmases I can remember.  The pictures above are examples of the crazy games we play with my extended family on Christmas Eve.

Grace and her best friend Lucy

The garage door I backed into!  Ugh!

New Year's Eve started off great, but ended with Tim and I having to finish the night away from each other.  We went out with a couple of other couples and were having a nice time.  And then I got the dreaded phone call from the babysitter (i.e. my dad).  He was so apologetic about having to call (if you know my dad, you'd know what I mean-he hates to inconvenience people).  I assured him it was fine to call-they are my children after all.  :-)  Apparently our dear daughter didn't want to spend the night anymore because she missed us too much.  I was surprised by this.  She has spent the night there so many times for years.  My dad was unable to convince her to change her mind, so he ended up coming to get me and taking Grace and I both back home.  I told Tim to go ahead and continue on without me.  (On a side note, we did get to kiss each other at midnight before I had to leave!!). 

Keegan and I on date night!

Sleepover over Christmas break!

Dad took us to my house and Grace and I spent the next couple of hours eating snacks in my bed, cuddling, and watching old Friends episodes on Nickelodeon.  It really was a great night, but ever since then she has had anxiety about being away from us.  We have had meltdowns for many nights since then and she would get out of bed around 8 times or so with 8 different excuses as to why she needed to sleep with us or on the couch.  Some of the reasons were:  I am afraid of the dark, I want it completely dark, I can't stop thinking about how much I miss you, I need a drink, I feel sick, etc.  They were all in the normal list of reasons you would hear from a 6 year old. 

Fast forward to today.....She had a doctor appt. with her pediatrician because I was sincerely worried she was beginning to have anxiety issues.  We had questioned her every which way and there was no recurring theme about why this was still happening.  More than anything, she just missed us.  I'd talked to my sister about it and she helped relieve some of my fears.  She reminded me that she did some of this too and shared stories about some of her friends' kids as well.  This made me feel better.  Dr. Tallo also helped relieve my anxiety.  He said it was all in the realm of normal and that we were doing the right things with her.  She should eventually get past it.  Whoo!  What a relief!  It breaks my heart to see her be so upset, including physically, and then she would say she didn't know why and she didn't know what was wrong with her.  I can't wait for her to feel better.  Last night was very good, so I hope for another good one tonight.

Grace decorated as a Christmas tree.

Santa-2011

Needless to say, you can think that you have things under control and then WHAM!-things change so quickly, especially with your children.  Grace is a fun, outgoing, independent, social little girl-always has been.  So, it was weird to see this in her.  I am ready for my old Grace to come back all the way.  She has been her normal self during the day and then another person at night.  If any of you have good tips on getting me through this, I am all ears. 

Until next time, wish me luck and send some prayers our way.  We can always use some!  On a quick side note, Grace is having her first cheerleading debut tonight as part of the Pink Panthers cheerleading squad.  I can't wait to see her!  It's a bunch of elementary girls and they cheer a few of the 5th/6th grade girls basketball games at their school.  I plan on taking lots of pictures!